Saying Goodbye
by Hina-Kitsune
Summary: A story writen for my Human Animal Bond class, it is about a vet, Megumi Takani, who learns that not all bonds are as clear cut as she believes they are. This revelation comes in the form of an emotionaly shut off boy by the name of Soujiro Seta/Himura.


This is a story that I wrote/am writing for my Human Animal Bond class. I would love any feedback that I can get because it is a grade for me. I would love to hear what you guys think about it. It was born from my recent Rurouni Kenshin obsession, especially with Soujiro, and my need to write a '"report" for my class that has us thinking about the bonds between owner and pet.

Disclaimer: The Rurouni Kenshin characters, and the implied past of Soujiro are from the imagination and skills as a writer and artist of Nobuhiro Watsuki, and I have used Joey from the awesome Kazuki Takahashi.

A large dark truck pulled into the back of the driver's veterinary clinic. One of her techs had already arrived, getting the kennels ready for the day to come. She knew some of the appointments of the day, and was, in a way, dreading a couple. Megumi Takani slid out of the truck and headed into the building. She sat at her desk, reviewing the appointment book. Surgeries were up first for the day and there were quite a few miscellaneous engagements for the 'check-up' times in the afternoon. She sighed at the thought of how the day was going to end. Her thoughts were cut short when she heard the receptionist begin to get the front ready. Megumi picked up her phone and paged the kennels. "Sano, could you please bring up the first surgery? It's the tiger stripe shorthair named Kisa. She should be in one of the cat cages on the right."

"Right…Got her. I'm heading up now." The man answered.

"Thanks." Megumi replied back and with that started her day.

The morning went by quickly, as did lunch, all leading up to the inevitable: the clients. The range of the owners that came to see her for their pets was as vast as the breeds of the species one could have in it. Of course, two always stood out, complete outliers on the charts. These two could be described, that day at least, by a teenage boy and a police officer.

Megumi was preparing for the last appointment of the day as she thought of those two. She smiled at the memory of the teen, Joey. He had gotten his puppy from his best friend after an accidental exposure to their other best friend's dog. The end result was the German Shepherd-Golden Retriever puppy the teen, literally, carried everywhere he went. Joey would tickle her, talk Brooklyn-accented baby talk to her, wouldn't let her paws touch the ground...All that from a boy who got into fights on a near daily basis, too. She had chuckled as he picked up the puppy after her exam. "She won't even know she can walk if you keep that up. She's pretty loved, isn't she?" She had joked.

The boy had looked slightly sheepish and chuckled nervously. "Yeah, but my sister takes care of that. She gets to be strict; I get to spoil. Thanks a lot, doc." The boy grinned cheekily before turning around and walking out of the room, once again muttering gibberish to the puppy.

A frown marred her elegant features as she remembered the other one, Saito. He was a strict and sharp-tongued police officer who brought the Chow mix his wife found in only because he was ordered by said woman. The dog had already learned to stand at least a foot away from the man, not that he would harm the animal-Saito was too afraid of his wife for that-but it was the cold air around him that caused the dog to keep his distance. The man didn't really care what happened to the creature, and kept a hard neutral face as she told him of the vaccinations and how they were going to have to keep an eye on the minor cut he had on his leg she cleaned. He had dismissed it, saying, "The dog will be outside and is only at our home as a guard, if that is even needed. The only reason we even have him is because my wife wanted to keep him, 'for protection' as she put it."

"Dogs can be very loyal to those that treat them properly, and even to those who don't. You may learn that there is more to him than meets the eye." She had offered.

"I highly doubt that." He replied as he took the dog's leash and walked him to the front desk, glaring at anything that came near him.

*Please let his wife come from now on, God, because I'm not allowed to harm my clients…* She silently prayed as she waited for the last client of the day. This meeting was going to be even harder to deal with than the cop because the young man coming in was a bit of a mystery to her, even if she had known him for around six years, maybe a little longer. The boy always kept up a mask of sorts, hiding his emotions, showing only what was strictly necessary. The boy never really seemed to be phased by anything, not when his dog had been shot right in front of him-though that could have been shock-nor when she told him the animal had cancer and not much time to live. He had just smiled it off, nonchalantly asking what the treatment options were. That had been less than six months ago and things had gone downhill badly for the dog, but she always managed a happy greeting for him. They had finally decided to euthanize her this afternoon, when the boy would be able to be there with her. This choice was made after she had had a pointed downward spiral as such over the week leading up to this appointment.

She heard the door open up in front, signaling that the boy had arrived. Sano brought him back to her so she could explain how the procedure was going to go, preparing him for what was to come. Through the whole explanation, he smiled-an almost happy look on his face-and nodded to show her he understood what she was saying. The smile began to irritate Megumi as she finished her talk. "Alright, Soujiro, I've had her brought into our isolation area so that we can have some peace while we go through this euthanasia. Just follow me through this hall."

"Alright." The young man's chipper tone made her nearly roll her eyes.

*Why does he even want to be here for her death? He doesn't even care about what's going on.* Megumi wondered to herself, mindful not to allow her thoughts show on her face, even if Sano caught them giving a secretive smirk. She'd have to reprimand him for that later, the rooster.

Once in the other room, Soujiro walked over to the weak dog, smiling a slightly gentler version of his usual smile. He sat down pulling her head into his lap as her tail slowly beat the ground. "I hear you haven't been feeling well, Miku. Well, you won't have to worry about that for very long; you shouldn't have to, not after all you've done." His voice was calm, soft, but without sadness, none of the usual emotions that she'd had to deal with in clients that had to put down a pet of so long.

Miku whined quietly, as if protesting. "I'm sure, Miku. We'll be alright. You just need to rest. Besides, you've been through enough pain in your life. Let's end that cycle." Soujiro continued, almost like he was arguing with the animal, who still protested to what was going to happen. "You can't fight anymore, Miku, and you know they are gone. They won't hurt me anymore; you've protected me for as long as you can, let me give you this rest."

Megumi noticed something different in the boy's voice at the last couple of sentences, almost sadness but not quite. *It is just a mask…* She realized. His 'emotion deprived' look and act was just that, a look and act, but…*Why go through the trouble?*was the question. She turned her attention back to the owner and pet in time to see a change in the boy's face.

Miku leaned up as much as her weakened body would allow and gave him a traditional Great Dane kiss right on his cheek before laying back down in his lap and giving a gentle sigh, her final breath leaving her body as she rested right where she forever wanted to stay. Soujiro's mask began to break as his cobalt eyes began to shine with a watery light, his smile slipping from his face to be replaced by one of near horror, or something akin. He began to shake his head negatively, slowly, his short black hair swishing with each movement. His thin shoulders began to shake in quiet, unreleased sobs as his long fingers slowly ascended to touch the Great Dane cross's side, the touch so light you would think she had been made of glass. "Miku? Miku, what's wrong? Come on girl, answer me, you always have before. Did I upset you for suggesting that you were weak? I'm sorry…Miku?" His voice was full of tears that he refused to let go.

Megumi pulled out her stethoscope to check her heart, to see if there was any need for the solution she had brought with her to end her pain as they had agreed. Nothing was detected, no sound except the boy's gentle encouragement for her to wake up. She glanced over at the black haired boy and was surprised to see that even though his eyes screamed of pain, he was smiling once again. "I'm sorry, Soujiro, she gone."

"No she's not," he gave a strained nervous giggle. "She misinterpreted my meaning of 'rest.' She thought I meant for her to sleep for a few minutes before she could come home, right? Right." He answered his own ramblings, but she knew he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince her.

"No, Soujiro. She understood. She knew it was ok for her to leave you now. She knew it was hard for you to watch what she was going through, so she finished the decision for you." Megumi continued on.

"But I need her. She's the only one to ever understand what I've been through in my life. Not even Kenshin knows what she does. He doesn't know the pain that I've dealt with; we've dealt with…" His quiet voice trailed off, his smile still in place as an anchor to the reality his mind wanted.

Megumi wondered at his words, though. What kind of pain could the animal have known that not even his adopted father knew of? She knew the red-head was extremely protective of the boy, but she never knew why, just that it most likely had to with the time they had brought Miku to her due to the shooting. "What do you mean, Soujiro? What kind of pain?" When the boy didn't answer, she decided to try a different route. "How did you meet Miku? I don't believe you guys ever told me."

"She was a gift from Kenshin when I first came to live him. Well, actually I got her about a year after I began to live there. He tried so hard to get me to open up, but I didn't want to tell him what had happened. I was weak those days, and I believed he would see that and leave me…Anyway, Kenshin had seen an article that spoke of dogs helping those with post traumatic syndromes and asked a friend of his from the military about adopting a dog for me." His answer was slow, and Megumi wasn't sure if she liked the implications that her mind was pulling together-especially about the post traumatic syndromes.

"His friend had Miku and her brother, but her brother died shortly after being brought to Kenshin's attention. The abuse had been too much for him, and they were afraid Miku was going to follow shortly after. Kenshin had brought me to meet them and see which I wanted. He figured that if the animal had been in a similar position as I had been, then it would take to me and me to it much easier." Soujiro continued on, nearly bringing tears to the woman's eyes as she realized what the boy was indirectly telling her: he had been abused before Kenshin found him. It explained why the gentle police officer was so protective of the teen.

His voice broke her from her observations once again, "I had broken away from Kenshin when I saw her. She looked so sad and defeated, much like I felt. I had to go over and see her. When I sat down beside her she stared at me with the same apprehensive look I gave everyone, but Kenshin. I noticed she was bandaged up, and the first thing I had said in a month was 'You're just like me.' I heard my, now, father gasp and come over to me before sitting beside the both of us. He told me she had just lost her brother to the same pain that I had known, and things weren't looking too good for her. I told him that I wanted her and to make her feel better, as he had done for me. He talked to me some more about what could happen with her until he was certain I understood, but I still wanted her. We took her home, and I became her savior as she eventually became mine." The boy stopped his story there, still smiling and holding in the tears and his hands continued to gently flitter over slowly cooling skin.

"How did you two become each other's saviors, Soujiro?" Megumi wasn't sure why she was still asking questions, but she felt that if she didn't, the boy may never open up to anyone again.

"I took care of her and gave her a reason to live. It was like I had become her puppy or something. She almost never left my side, and for that I was grateful. I told her everything that had happened to me in my life before being adopted. Then one day, we were in the park with Kenshin, and one my old family members was there. I saw him and tried to get away, but he saw me too. He started yelling things at me before pulling out a gun and aiming it at me." His giggle startled her from her imagined images, and she noticed that tears were now streaking down his still smiling face. "Miku shoved me out of the way, taking the bullet for me. I was so scared, but couldn't do anything but sit there; I was only twelve. Kenshin took him out quickly and had his friends arrest him while he checked on me. We got her here, and you treated her, as I'm sure you remember. I wouldn't let her leave my sight for longer than was strictly necessary after that. Now, she'll never be with me again…"

*He was breaking this whole time and the smile was his mask from the pain.* Megumi now understood. She had lost sight of what she should never have: no matter the situation, there is a bond between the animal and the owner. This bond can be one of confidants, protectors, family, comrades, even one of master and servant, but there was always a bond, no matter how uncaring the owner may seem or be. There was always some underlining connection that, if allowed to manifest, became something that should and would never be truly broken. She continued to contemplate this as the door was opened, and the boy's red-head father came in to comfort him and make arrangements for the large dog's remains. She went through what was to offer as a part of her mind shuffled through everything she had learned that day. As she watched the two leave with the small coffin-like box, she finally allowed herself to cry at all she had heard, and swore she wouldn't take her clients at face value anymore, but would truly do all she could to not jump to negative conclusions. *I'm glad it's true: we do learn something new everyday.* She smiled through her tears as she turn back to her office, and to give Sano that reprimanding she owed him.


End file.
